Hair dryer attachment



Aug. 18, 1970 I R. L. HANISCO 3,524,265

HAIR DRYER ATTACHMENT Filed July 15, 1968 W INVENTOR RAYMOND LEW/S HAN/3C0 Arron/var United States Patent 3,524,266 HAIR DRYER ATTACHMENT Raymond Lewis Hanisco, Lansdale, Pa., assignor to Proctor-Silex Incorporated, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New York Filed July 15, 1968, Ser. No. 745,011 Int. Cl. A45d 20/46, 7/06 US. Cl. 34-99 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates generally to the setting of hair and more particularly to an attachment which when installed in a conventional home hair dryer, provides a hair setting as well as drying apparatus.

It has long been known that dampening tends to relax hair fibers so that when hair is fashioned in a particular position or style while damp or moist, upon becoming dry this position or style tends to be maintained. While a number of home hair dryers are presently available with steam generating means to moisten dry hair that has been set in a particular style, so that it then can be set by the drying action of the dryer, the inclusion of steam generating capability significantly adds to the selling cost of these devices along with creating the ever present safety hazard that accompanies the conversion of water into steam by electricity and applying same to the scalp.

Accordingly, it is the general aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved attachment for home hair dryers which will moisten hair for setting and styling purposes without the necessity of producing steam or operating the heating portion of the dryer, and yield comparable, if not superior setting and styling results than has heretofore been possible with steam generating and hot vapor means. A related object of the invention is to provide a hair moistening attachment for a home hair dryer for setting and styling purposes that is low in cost, simple and quick to install, use and maintain, and that can be provided with new home hair dryers or added to those already in existence without the need of extensive alterations or modifications.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method of setting and styling hair utilizing a conventional home hair dryer without requiring an electrical steam, vapor or mist generating apparatus presently available on expensive home hair dryers for the same purpose. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary hair moistening attachment embodying the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the hair moistening attachment shown in FIG. 1 installed in its operative position opening into the interior of a hair drying hood or bonnet which is depicted fragmentarily;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the components of the hair moistening attachment shown in FIG. 1 and its relationship with a hair dryer hose fitting;

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FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an end view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the scalp encompassing hood, the air moving source and the conduit means therebetween.

While the present invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, illustrative embodiments are shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative construction falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention or expressed in the appended claims.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, an exemplary hair moistening attachment for a home hair dryer, generally indicated at 10, is illustrated including a housing 11, an absorbent element 12 (FIG. 3) and a resilient retaining washer 13 for securing element 12 to the housing 11. As here shown, the outer shell of the housing 11 includes a fluted portion 14 and a smooth portion 15 while the interior includes a tubular shaft 16 for maintaining the absorbent element 12 in the housing 11.

In order to install the moistening attachment 10 in a hair dryer, the smooth portion 15 is sized so as to be slideably inserted into the end of a conventional hose to bonnet coupling member 18 (FIGS. 3 and 4) and is provided with slots 19 to clear the latch members 20 which are integrally molded as part of the coupling member 18 and adapted to resiliently engage a collar 21 provided in the scalp engaging hood or bonnet 22. As best shown in FIG. 2, in the preferred embodiment herein described, the fluted portion 14 of the hair moistening attachment 10 extends into the interior of the hood or bonnet 22 and can be quickly and easily removed upon detaching the coupling member 18 from the hood or bonnet 22.

In operation the entire hair moistening attachment 10 is submerged in water until the absorbent element 12 has absorbed its maximum capacity of water. While a relatively small open celled plastic foam is preferred as the material for the absorbent element 12, other absorbent materials including sponge, felt or the like could also be used for this purpose. The water ladened haid moistening attachment 10 is then inserted into the coupling member 18 which in turn is attached to the hood or bonnet 22.

The hood or bonnet 22 is then placed on the head of the user with the hair in a dry condition and maintained by pins, rollers, curlers or the like in the general configuration in which the setting of the hair is desired. The hair dryer blower and heater assembly generally designated at 30 in FIG. 6 is then actuated through-knob 31 and the air flowing therefrom through the hose coupling member 18 and into the hood or bonnet 22 be comes permeated with moisture as it moves across the absorbent element 12 and in turn moistens the hair. When the water in the absorbent element 12 is depleted, the warm air from the blower and heater assembly then proceeds to dry the moistened hair, which imparts a set to it. In hair dryers where the heating element can be deactivated independently of the blower, it has been found that it would not 'be necessary to employ the heating element during the moistening portion of the setting process which appreciably adds to the comfort of the user.

In order to assist the air moving past the water filled absorbent element 12 in carrying off the water therefrom, a pair of vanes 23 (FIGS. 1 and 5) are provided in the housing 11 forward of the absorbent element 12 which produces a turbulent condition about the element 12 and tends to draw the water from it into the air stream more efficiently. It has also been found that the vanes 23 assist in evenly distributing the moist air throughout the interior of the hood or bonnet 22 which insures that all the hair Within will be moistened.

For assembly purposes the resilient retaining washer 13 is provided with a pair of internal tabs 26 adapted to slip on the tubular shaft 16 to hold the absorbent element 12 thereon. As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the tubular shaft 16 is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed slots 27 to receive the tabs 26 so that the Washer 13 will be locked in place. It is pointed out that while the absorbent element could be readily replaced by this method, its infinite long life and the extremely low cost of the entire attachment would, for practical purposes, preclude this.

While the amount and texture of the hair of the user will in large predicate the amount of water to be held by the absorbent element 12 and the degree of setting obtained, it has been found that when an absorbent element 12 having a water holding capacity range of two to four grams is combined with a drying period of approximately five minutes after the depeletion of the Water in the absorbent element 12, desirable settting results will be obtained by the vast majority of users. It is pointed out that while the present invention contemplates the use of Water as the hair moistening medium, any suitable aqueous solution capable of being carried into the hood or bonnet by a stream of air, moistening the hair therein and then dried by the conventional operation of the hair dryer, could also be used with out departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

It has also been found that the use of the moisturizing attachment 10 during a chemical hair coloring or bleaching process insures that the tips of the hair will remain moist throughout the process so that the chemical action will not be prematurely retarded thereabout, as is often the case.

In conclusion, while it would lie well within the spirit and scope of the instant invention to provide the hair moistening attachment 10 at the blower end of the hose 28 or at an intermediate location, it has been found that to insure the best distribution of moisture throughout the scalp of the user and to prevent the posibility of moisture condensing in the tubing 28, the preferred location for the attachment 10 is at the air entrance to the hood or bonnet 22 as depicted in the above description and accompanying drawings.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hair dryer comprising a scalp encompassing hood, an air moving source and conduit means connected to said source and said hood and providing flow communication therebetween, said conduit means including a hair moisturizing member, said member comprising a liquid absorbent clement axially extending within said conduit means and having its exposed surface area radially spaced from the internal periphery of said conduit means throughout the axial length of said element by means connecting said element to said periphery, and said conduit means including turbulator means upstream of said absorbent element whereby said element when saturated will be exposed throughout its external surface area to the movement of air through the conduit means to efficiently moisturize the air.

2. A hair dryer comprising a scalp encompassing hood, an air moving source and conduit means connected to said source and said hood and providing flow communication therebetween, said conduit means including a hair moisturizing member, said member comprising a liquid absorbent element axially extending within said conduit means and having its exposed surface area radially spaced from the internal periphery of said conduit means throughout the axial length of said element by means connecting said element to said periphery whereby said element when saturated will be exposed throughout its external surface area to the movement of air through the conduit means to efiicicntly moisturize the air, said conduit means further including a flexible conduit, and said member further comprising an open-ended housing having one end in overlapping relaiton with said conduit and the other end received within said hood.

3. The hair dryer set forth in claim 2 wherein said housing has means accommodating the latch members on the end of said conduit in overlapping relation therewith.

4. A hair dryer comprising a scalp encompassing hood, an air moving source and conduit means connected to said source and said hood and providing flow communication therebetween, said conduit means including a hair moisturizing member, said member comprising a liquid absorbent element axially extending within said conduit means and having its exposed surface area radially spaced from the internal periphery of said conduit means throughout the axial length of said element by means connecting said element to said periphery whereby said element when saturated will be exposed throughout its external surface area to the movement of air through the conduit means to efficiently moisturize the air, said absorbent element comprising a shaft receiving a piece of absorbent material thereabout and said connecting means having turbulator means positioned upstream of said element.

5. A hair dryer comprising an air moving source, a scalp encompassing hood, a conduit extending between said source and said hood and providing a flow passage therebetween, and a hair moisturizing attachment having an open-ended housing in at least partial overlapping relation with one end of said conduit and being at least partially received within one of said source and hood to provide a continuation of said passage and a liquid absorbent element extending axially within said passage and being radially spaced from the inner periphery of said housing by means connecting said element to said housing to provide an external surface exposed throughout its length to the air forcibly moving through the conduit and attachment.

6. The hair dryer set forth in claim 5 wherein said housing includes means accommodating latch means on the end of said conduit in overlapping relation with said housing, and said element comprises a shaft receiving liquid absorbent material thereabout, and said connecting means has turbulator means and is positioned upstream of said element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,694,206 11/1954 Foster 132-7 X 2,762,133 9/1956 Leclabart 3472 829,707 8/1906 Fries 261-79 947,726 1/1910 Zimmer 239326 X 2,827,060 3/1958 Marty 34--97 X FOREIGN PATENTS 292,597 8/ 1953 Switzerland. 1,161,703 9/1958 France.

WILLIAM E. WAYNER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

